Bookstore Blues
by InsaneGrizzlies
Summary: My entry for The Epic T-Rated Contest. Cute, T-rated fluff of Edward and Bella, with cannibals and firemen being referenced. Edward and Bella are both doing a little somewhat-stalking in the bookstore.... Being continued after the contest.
1. Chapter 1

The Epic T-Rated Contest

**1.** No lemons. Must be rated 'T.'

**2.** Has to have a line or reference to a cannibal.

**3**. Has to have a line or reference to a fireman.

**4**. All canon pairings.

**5**. Has to be a one-shot, but is allowed to be continued once the contest is finished.

**6**. Must copy/paste these rules to the top of your submission. Two entries per person. Collaborations acceptable.

**7**. Must PM Bronzehairedgirl620 to alert them of your entry so we can add your story to the C2 if it fits the requirements.

The contest will run until June 6th, 11:59 MST (Mountain Standard Time.) Submissions need to be posted to FF and must follow the rules above.

_**For: Daddy's Little Cannibal. 'Nough said.**_

Bella glanced up as the bells above the store door jingled, and then quickly glanced back down sightlessly at the books she was ringing up. Right on time. Same time, same day, and he'd always follow the same path as before.

He'd walk by without looking up from the floor, and turn into the third aisle of books. He'd walk out with one of them, sit down at the café table farthest from the front of the store, and read for half an hour. _Exactly_. Then he would return the book to the shelf or tuck it under his arm, walk up the small stairs to the register of the café, and order a regular drink, paying for the book there if he had one. He'd smile at the barista, making her visibly swoon, then walk out the door again. Without looking up.

Tuesdays were her favorite days to work now, even if the mornings were notoriously slow and dragged on forever. It didn't matter, as long as she got those forty minutes to peek over at him.

Admittedly, she was probably being pathetic. During one of her breaks after he'd left one week, she'd wandered over to that aisle and searched for any book with a cover resembling the one he'd been reading. It was surprisingly simple - nearly the whole aisle was Dean Koontz and other horror stories. She'd found the one he'd been reading after a few minutes of searching, and brought it with her to a seat in the café.

And it got worse - a week after that, she'd left the register in the hands of someone else for a "bathroom break" and walked by as he was ordering. He liked to get vanilla lattes, extra hot, double shot. She knew she was bordering on obsession and stalker tendencies, but… it wasn't like she was going to start following him out of the store and home or something.

Her thoughts had distracted her from his proceedings enough that when she glanced over, he was already sitting and reading a book. Bella spent a few moments ogling how the lighting reflected in his oddly shaded hair when suddenly another face popped in front of her vision.

"Hey Bella!"

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from groaning aloud, Bella muttered back, "Hi Mike."

Mike was the brother-in-law of the owner or something like that, and she was pretty sure he was married or at least in a serious relationship, because the same girl showed up when he got off work and draped herself over him. Did that stop him from hitting on her, and any other single girl who came by?

Not. At. All.

Bella rested her chin in the palm of her hand, eyes unfocused as Mike babbled on and on, mindlessly filling the soft quiet of the small bookstore. Occasionally, she would offer up one of her vague smiles that kept him pleased and speaking, and slant her eyes back over to the Tuesday Guy. He'd leisurely turn a page, and sometimes he would look up and stare ahead of himself for a few moments. It was Bella's guess that he became lost in thought at those moments, because that was the best, logical explanation she could think of.

A few customers came up while Mike prattled on about mindless gibberish, and Bella rang up their buys, smiling and chatting with the ones she saw more regularly than others, and still being sure to share books she thought might interest unfamiliar customers when she saw a link between the book they were buying and one she knew of. Mike would finally pause in these moments, but then he'd go back to filling her ears with his boring noise.

Half an hour passed, and Tuesday Guy rose to put his book away. Bella sighed sadly, wishing Mike would go away, and wishing something would break the always bittersweet monotony of Tuesdays.

"-and so we were falling down the side of the mount-"

"Excuse me," a muted velvet voice interrupted, and she was never more grateful. Bella was pretty sure she'd just caught Mike staring down her shirt. Attempting to be covert about it, she reached down to tug the top of the shirt higher into place, glaring slightly in Mike's direction before plastering a smile on her face.

Before her stood Tuesday Guy, grinning crookedly and with extreme amusement. When Mike simply stepped aside, Tuesday Guy narrowed his eyes slightly and turned completely towards her. "I was wondering if you could help me, miss. It seems no one is at the customer help desk, and I was wondering if you would mind helping me find a certain book?"

"Sure," Bella said, walking around the register desk, and leading the way to the computers where they looked up books in the system. When she stepped behind there, and looked up at Tuesday Guy's face, he was still grinning.

"I lied, you know," he stated.

"Pardon?" Bella asked, a little confused, at least momentarily. "You lied?"

He shrugged. "You looked like you needed rescuing." He leaned closer to her over the desk, his hands placed on the top and a smirk playing on the corners of his mouth. "I think that guy's a cannibal - he looked ready to eat you."

Bella laughed, unable to help herself. Tuesday Guy grinned, leaning back with a small look of satisfaction. Catching her breath, Bella couldn't stop grinning back, and decided to take this moment to admire him up close.

His eyes were a bright, unblended, undiluted green. Nice, full lips. Chiseled features, pale and perfect complexion. Jesus, he looked like a statue from the Renaissance depicting a god or epic hero. It should be completely illegal to be so good looking.

"Well, I appreciate you being my Knight in Shining Armor," Bella finally said, blushing at the slightly awkward movement in conversation.

Still grinning lightly, he responded, "Well, maybe it's in my blood. My father and uncle used to be volunteer firefighters when they were just out of college."

Bella smiled, unable to keep from picturing the guy in front of her as a firefighter. Talk about hot.

After another small pause, he held out his hand. "I'm Edward."

"Bella." Smiling, she offered her hand for him to grip. His was warm, slightly callused, and firm. Bella wanted to swoon, but for the sake of her pride, she managed not to. It was a close thing though, she felt.

When he took his hand back, it moved to rub against the back of his neck and he leaned a hip against the desk. "So, uh…. I see you here every Tuesday."

Blinking rapidly, Bella said, "Um, yes. Same… same here."

Edward grinned quickly, then added, "Well, I haven't exactly been irregular in my visits."

Blushing, Bella looked down, strands of hair falling into her face. Biting her lip to keep back her smile from growing too large, she held a breath before looking back up, hoping her expression didn't show how much she wanted to read into that.

Gosh, he struck her as even more gorgeous, looking up at her through his dark long lashes. _What is it with guys and long lashes? It wasn't like they appreciated them,_ Bella thought absently to herself.

"There's been a reason for that, you know."

_There's a reason they don't appreciate their eyelashes?_ Bella thought jokingly to herself for a split second. Outloud, however, she managed to respond normally. "Oh?" Bella felt a slight surprise to hear her voice come out coyly, with only a hint of her usual shyness.

He leaned back over the top of the desk, smirking slightly again. "I saw you once, and I had to keep coming back to see those large brown doe eyes of yours as you kept trying to not look at me."

Bella felt her cheeks turn fire engine red but couldn't stop grinning. This had to be all that good luck she'd stored up from all the bad luck of being clumsy in life. Heck, if being clumsy forever meant she got at least _one_ date with this guy, she just might die happy.

"So," he said playfully, "In risk of being utterly embarrassed. Will you go out with me Friday night, so I can stop feeling like a stalker by coming here every Tuesday morning?"

Her grin split her face so wide it hurt, but she just couldn't stop. This complete stranger - _gorgeous _stranger - wanted to go out with her on Friday. The sensible side of her warned that for all she knew, he really was a stalker and she would get murdered. The side of her that had been basically stalking him back said it really didn't care, and that it should be sooner than Friday.

Reaching out, Bella grabbed Edward's palm in a spurt of confidence brought on by his admittance of coming here just to see her every week. Using the pen that waited with clones of itself on the desk, Bella scribbled her cell number on his palm and wrote her name underneath it.

Looking up into those intoxicating green eyes, she grinned, excitement and an almost nervous energy flowing through her. "Call me anytime."

A slow crooked grin spread over his lips, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. "That I will do Bella. Make no doubt about it."

**Ha ha, I may be (alright, I so totally am) biased, but I think it's cute. **


	2. AUTHOR IS FLABBERGASTED

You know that worshiping thing I said last time? Well, I'm just plain flabbergasted and honored and f'ckin in love with you all now. We've made it to ROUND THREE. I mentioned I never really expected to make it past round one, so round two was amazing. Round Three is just plain exciting and I want to jump up and down and squeal for joy. Seriously.

Thank you all who voted for me, because I never expected to get this far. Even if I don't get in the top three, I just want to... I have no clue how to thank you, except say it enough that you start to wonder if I'm a broken record. ;) lol.

Voting for Round Three begins Monday, July 6. Please, I'll ask you just once more, go vote!!!

Again, thank you each and every one of you! While I'm thanking people, I might as well thank each and every one of my lucky stars individually and by name, right Lisa? lol!

Thank you thank you thank you!

~ Juliann


	3. Chapter 2

**Alright, I'm giving it a shot. I'm continuing the story Bookstore Blues. No, no - hold your applause. Lol**

**Just hope you all enjoy it.**

Bella paced nervously in her apartment's living room, chewing her bottom lip until it was plump and red. This date had seemed like a good idea when she'd agreed to it, but truth was, she didn't do this kind of thing. Ever. She didn't even agree to blind dates set up by trusted friends, so what on _earth_ had possessed her to agree to basically the same thing with a complete stranger who admitted to stalking her?

'_Stalking you _back,' the little voice in her head reminded her, not that it was very helpful.

'_Shut up'_ she told herself, frowning. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that Edward the Beautiful Green-eyed Tuesday Stranger would be arriving - if he were on time - in four minutes. 240 seconds.

Bella doubled over in place, wrapping her arms around her stomach, fighting a feeling of nausea. She kept trying to tell herself she could do this, but the voice telling her she couldn't was louder.

A whole sixty-seven seconds before he was supposed to knock, before she could completely convince herself it would be perfectly fine, there was a knock at the door. Bella jumped, stabbing her side on the corner of the bookshelf. Frowning, she rubbed her side and moved to answer the door, pausing a moment to smooth her simple, casual blue sundress into place.

She opened the door, and the air dispersed from her lungs. He stood before her, hands buried in his pockets, green eyes peering up at her from the curtain of hair over his forehead. Gorgeous. How could any one person be so gorgeous? It definitely wasn't fair to the rest of humanity.

Then he grinned, and her lips involuntarily mimicked his in response.

Edward jerked his head behind him slightly, grinning because he simply couldn't help it. "Ready to go?" he asked quietly, remembering the slightly nervous look in her eyes.

Bella smiled, a little hesitantly, and grabbed her small purse before nodding and following him out.

He led her to a sleek black car, one that she couldn't possibly put a name to because she knew next to nothing about them. Her childhood best friend, Jacob, had tried to teach her, but had gotten nowhere. He'd called her a 'lost cause'. She crashed his motorcycle shortly beforehand, though, and she suspected he stopped because he was afraid of her damaging anything more precious than that.

Edward smiled widely as he opened the door, closing it softly behind her and rushing around the front to his side. When he started the car, its smooth purr was a startling difference to Bella's truck, which sounded more like one of the nitro cars in drag races… if it had a really bad cold.

Bella didn't know what to say - her nerves over her rash decision on Tuesday were keeping her mind immobile and this just made her more anxious.

Edward glanced over at her, noting how she was chewing her bottom lip in obvious agitation, and quickly tried to think of a way to break her out of her anxiety.

"Is there anything specific you want to do tonight, or are you more of a play-it-by-ear kind of girl?" he asked. He had plans, of course, but if it would make her more comfortable if they did something she wanted, he would be all for it. Edward hated situations that made people uncomfortable or upset, and always did his best to avoid them.

Bella glanced at him in surprise, jerking out of her arguments with herself about the rash date, and then looked down at her hands where they rested in her lap. "Whatever you had planned is fine," she said softly.

Edward nodded. "There's this place I like to go," he said, glancing sideways at her, "the service is good and friendly and the food is great. I thought I'd take you there, then play it by ear."

Bella nodded, swallowing in an attempt to alleviate her dry throat. It didn't work.

When they pulled up at the restaurant, Edward hurried around the car as Bella unbuckled and opened her door, trying to remind herself why she'd thought this was a good idea. Edward gently helped her stand, grinning crookedly. Bella offered a slight smile back, the best she could do while her stomach was hosting the tryouts for the circus act in her body. She expected Edward to release her hand, but he didn't; instead, he kept it loosely gripped in his own and rubbed his thumb soothingly over the back.

They were led to a table and Edward held out her seat. Bella blushed, not used to such actions. Holding open doors, pulling out chairs… she half expected him to bow and kiss her hand.

Bella grabbed the menu and glanced over it, completely blind as to what was written on it. Her eyes had a mind of their own, and kept shifting up to stare at the man across from her. When she realized she was staring, she'd quickly glance back down, but somehow, her eyes always managed to return.

One time while she was staring, Edward looked up as well and caught her. Bella flushed, but Edward just grinned, folding his menu and putting it down. Making her eyes return to her menu, mentally chiding herself, Bella selected the first thing her eyes could actually focus on that sounded like something she could eat, and folded her menu onto the table. Where before her eyes couldn't stay off of him, now they couldn't seem to even flicker to him.

"Do you work at the bookstore full time, or part time?"

Bella's head snapped up with the question, and she flushed. "Oh, um, part time. I'm finishing my degree online."

Edward smiled at her, and Bella couldn't help her lips smiling back. A small bit of tension finally drifted away. "What do you do?" she asked curiously. He'd said his father and grandfather had been volunteer firefighters, but nothing about himself. "Besides save damsels being hunted by cannibals," she added, a small smirk pulling up her lips. Every time Mike came up to speak with her now, she kept picturing a savage wild crazy-guy. To say it kept her amused was a slight understatement.

Laughing, Edward leaned forward in his seat. "I'm in the middle of trying to start my own business, with my best friend. She does all the hard work, really. Actually, she's sort of taken control of the whole project," he admitted with a soft chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I also work down at the coffeehouse on Central. Just so that I don't go completely broke while waiting."

Bella smiled, more of her nerves drifting away as they spoke. It was just so comfortable speaking with Edward. "What kind of business?"

At that, Edward turned a little red, but he laughed easily. "I was going to make it a little coffeehouse, but my friend, Alice, had other plans. She wanted to make it a sweets-store. It'll probably end up with both."

Bella nodded. "That would probably be good, though. I mean, two different selections on what to buy, more customers."

He nodded as well, then shrugged. "I let Alice take care of the setting up of the business, but trust me. Once it starts, I'll be the one she delegates all the managing work to. Alice is more of a people person."

The conversation flowed easily as their order was taken, and until we were given our food. Edward told the most funny stories, and it made her sorry when the food was finished and paid for.

Edward grabbed Bella's hand as they started out of the restaurant, twining their fingers together and smiling down at her. "So what do you want to do?"

Bella bit her lip, looking around. "Um… why don't we just walk for a while?"

"Sure," Edward agreed easily, "Come on." He nodded his head to the side and Bella followed him. They were quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying the cool air around them and the tranquil night. A small breeze tickled Bella's hair, brushing coolly against the back of her neck. She shivered lightly, but Edward glanced at her in concern.

"Are you cold? Did you bring a jacket?"

Bella smiled up at him. "No, it was just a little breeze."

He didn't appear entirely convinced, and untwined their hands. Bella tried not to let her face express disappointment; when his arm wrapped over her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side, she felt her face flush with heat.

Edward watched the pleasant blush on her cheeks and decided he wanted to get that reaction out of her as often as possible. The pink color blended beautifully with her pale complexion.

They walked and talked a little more, and Edward confirmed many things he'd guessed about her from his Tuesday visits to the bookstore. She was shy, but spoke passionately when a subject she felt confident with was broached. She knew a lot about classic books, and she could find popular modern books to compare them with. Her laugh was beautiful, and her smile was serene. His attention often drifted to her lips, but he was pretty sure he managed to keep that from her notice.

Bella glanced shyly towards Edward again, unable to keep from smiling a little more as she noticed his eyes pause near her lips again. She wondered if he noticed that he did that or not. She couldn't help but notice that whenever she blushed, he ran his hand through his hair, and his eyes would travel to her lips again. It was cute, in a slightly embarrassing way.

They reached his car again, and once again Edward opened the door for Bella. Bella blushed, but also managed to smirk at him. "Laying on the manners pretty thick, are we?"

Laughing, Edward shut her door and went around to his side. As he sat down and started the engine, he smirked over at her. "Totally. The plan is to draw you in now, and then become a lazy, rude asshole once you're in my clutches."

Bella laughed, cheeks hurting from the wide smiling she'd been doing all night. "Very evil."

The ride back to Bella's place was far more comfortable from the ride to the restaurant, and once Edward stopped in front of her place, she hesitated on making a move to get out. Edward twisted around in his seat to see her better, running a hand across her cheek and tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"I had… an amazing time, Edward," Bella said quietly, biting her lip as she smiled. Her lips twitched towards a larger grin as his eyes focused on her lips again, then back to her eyes.

"That's good. Does it mean my evil master plan is working?"

Bella grinned, her cheeks heating slightly. "I don't know." She took a breath and reminded herself that being bold didn't always lead to bad things. Just look at tonight as an example. "I think you're going to have to do a little more than opening doors and such to win me over completely."

He raised a brow. "Is that so?"

Bella nodded, licking her dry lips and finding her voice had gotten lost. Edward's eyes watched the movement of her tongue, and she blushed again, which drew his attention to her cheeks. He brushed the back of a finger across them again.

"That's such a beautiful reaction. I love it." His hand started to brushed through his hair again.

Bella grinned. "I love watching you run your hand through your hair."

He stopped halfway and pulled his hand away, looking faintly startled by the action, then grinned at her. "Subconscious habit."

Bella smirked, reaching her hand up to brush some hair out of his eyes. "It's cute. Especially when you're watching my lips at the same time," she teased.

The faint red hit his cheeks again, and Bella grinned, delighted. "You're adorable," she admitted with a laugh.

Edward's eyes locked onto hers, burning and sparking with a light that froze the breath in her chest. He didn't say anything, just leaned forward and caught her mouth with his, pressing himself closer.

His lips were silky, warm, and made Bella gasp with surprise. With a pleasured sigh, Bella relaxed towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck comfortably. After just a few moments, though, the pleasure from the kiss was shadowed by the discomfort of their position in the car.

Edward pulled back slightly, watching the lightly unfocused look fade from Bella's eyes. He swallowed thickly, then pulled back some more, getting out of the car and moving around to help Bella rise from the seat.

She smiled at him, cheeks still pink from a blush, and squeezed his hand lightly. They walked up to her door, and stopped there. Bella leaned back against her door, not letting go of his hand. Not quite ready to admit the night was well and truly over.

Edward brushed her cheek one last time, stepping so close that their bodies brushed. "Thanks for giving the date a chance, Bella."

Bella grinned. "Well, if it meant getting rid of a stalker…."

Chuckling, Edward leaned a little closer. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Can't wait," she murmured, staring at his lips, hoping for another kiss. If he didn't initiate it, she just might.

Smirking slightly, Edward leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against hers once, twice. The third time, it was more than a simply brushing of lips, and Bella decided that being bold was definitely a good thing. Heck, she should probably thank Cannibal Mike for putting her in a position to be rescued from.

"Good night Bella," Edward whispered, breathing off by just a bit.

Bella grinned, licking her lips. "Night Edward."

He walked backwards, and Bella reached for the doorknob without turning to look. Once he was in his car, she finally turned the knob and stepped inside as he drove away.

Closing the door, Bella leaned against it, grinning goofily.

Oh, yeah. Stalking guys in the bookstore was _definitely_ a good thing.

**I'm not sure just how long it will be - not very. I'd think only about five chapters tops. Thanks for all the votes that got us to round three, this is my thank you to all of you. More of the story. **


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